The Skyscraper
by Mistborngal
Summary: Modern days. Narnia was a well-oiled company owned by the Pevensies. Within the skyscraper of Cair Paravel, the heart of Narnia, everything ran uneventfully. The only drama was the complex feeling between Edmund Pevensie and his right-hand woman, Rosalie Westwood. What would happen when a dark force, Telmar Gang, stepped into the picture? And what's with the mysterious guy Caspian?
1. Chapter 1 Mocha and Cinnamon

Declaration: I own nothing. Everything belongs to C.S Lewis

Ch.1

Mocha and Cinnamon

Headquarter of Narnia Corporation, Cair Paravel, shined in the beams of sunlight. Its magnificence could be seen even from a distance. However, Rosalie Westwood just did not have the mood to admire the lovely picture this morning. Walking into the said building of her everyday workplace, all her cells froze as she saw a tall, dark , lean figure in front of the lifts.

Rosalie quickly slowed down her pace. No, this was not the right moment. She was not ready to continue her argument with him. Not in this hour with Edmund Pevensie. Her mind went back to the quarrel they had yesterday…

"The accident will cause the budget to exceed for several millions. We need to cut down the cost."

"Ed, that does not mean we reduce half of the amount we are supposed to give!"

"Rosa, you are not thinking clearly. The government's project was in only a few months. We need to gather all resources on it. Burning more money just to compensate the mistakes the contractors have made will pose repercussion on the bigger target!"

"I am just saying you can cut only 20-30% of the budget but not totally giving up the whole thing."

"Rosalie, I know it's a hard decision but I think you are too sentimental now to make the right move."

At that, Rosalie simply stormed off without a word.

Rosalie knew why Edmund was so concerned on the upcoming governmental project. Narnia Corporation was originally owned by the legendary tycoon, Aslan. He was an urban myth who vanished a few decades ago. In the meantime, the company was controlled by Jadis, a rich woman with unknown origin who secretly brought the majority of the shares from all their holders through blackmailing, threatening and other dirty trades. It was a miserable time for both the company and the city. She monopolized the town, suppressed the government and deal with the mobs and gangsters. It was rumored that a few competitors of hers were murdered under the order of the evil woman. Fortunately, her reign was ended three years ago when Aslan returned together with the Pevensies, a family well-known in the city and took back control. Surprisingly, Aslan himself did not reprise his position as CEO but handed over to Peter Pevensie.

The corporation was then restructured into an entrepreneurship of different diversified brand names in various businesses, from media to property market. The government recently announced an infrastructure project which was to be outsourced and the company had its eyes on it. It would be a great opportunity for them to have greater influence among others in the city.

Many would reason the success of the corporation was due to the leadership of Peter Pevensie. He was a man with great charisma and vision that led them through one accomplishment after another. He was the one to decide the direction for the enterprise and to strive for any possible business deals and opportunities. While he realized all the targets, Edmund was the one who made sure these projects are achievable goals, watched over the budget and finance, and supervised their progress. Rosalie often liked to compare the Pevensie brothers as visionary and thinker. Peter was daring enough to take risk and dream while Edumund strategized to ensure these visions were possible.

The Pevenise guys were the pillars of the well-oiled mechanism in Narnia. However, their sisters were also not to be looked down off. Susan Pevensie was in the business; handling for all PR matters and other media-related issues with her inborn diplomatic skills and of course… her beauty. The youngest Pevensie, who Rosalie had just met a few times before was of a cheery yet compassionate nature. Lucy was a medical student studying for her final semester in USA. Still, she made great contribution. Her knowledge and connection with doctors, medical researchers have introduced much investment chances for her brothers.

The Pevensies may be the legacy of young successful entrepreneurs. Yet, Rosalie Westwood also had her own reputation within Cair Paravel. The 26 years old head-strong woman worked as a management trainee in Mega Company after graduation. Edmund came into their company for a joint project. Maybe was the quick wit or the calmness the brunette displaced no matter how bad the situation was, or her ability to be tactful at times, Rosalie was handpicked by Edmund to join in his team in Narnia. Throughout her times in Narnia, she had proven herself as worthy enough to take up the place as the second-in-command of the dark haired Pevensie. The Project Managers in their department recognized Rosalie as their co-leader.

However, this morning when Rosalie walked into the office, her co-workers were more evasive than usual. She sighed internally, did her argument with Edmund in their glassy office known to all others? With tension filling high in the common office, Rosalie stepped in her own room, unsurprisingly finding a cup of Mocha on her table. She took her sip and laughed quietly when the teammates out there emitted audible sound of relieve.

It was a well-known ritual between her and Edmund. Rosalie never needed to buy her own coffee. Edmund brought her favourite Mocha every morning together with his own Double Expresso. When they had a fight the day before, the Mocha became a peace offering. If Rosalie accepted it (which she always did), the quarrel between them was settled. The coffee ritual served another meaning in the common office. After mommy and daddy fought, it was a signal of everything was ok. They no longer need to bear the rage and passive-aggressiveness from both parties. Peace was restored.

The brunette frowned slightly when a faint bitter taste of cinnamon appeared under the richness and sweetness of chocolate. Having been working closely with Edmund for more than two years, people often doubted weren't there anything personal between them? Rosalie admitted to herself in some ungodly hours (like before she slept or with a few glasses of wine consumed) which she was most vulnerable that she did feel something for her current boss when she was still a representative of Mega Company. Towards the end of their corporation, she even had the slightest suspicion the feeling was mutual. Instead, he sat her down for a business proposition, not a personal one. The gesture pretty much stated clearly, the feeling between them, was like the thin taste of cinnamon in her Mocha, barely existed.


	2. Chapter 2 Earl Grey and Lasagna

_A.N: Thank you for the review. I am sorry for the grammar mistakes. I am not a native English speaker and I did make quite lot of them, I will pay more attention on it_

 _This is my first fic, I love reviews, please feel free to comment._

 _Warning: very long chapter ahead_

 _Disclamation: I owned nothing_

Ch.2

Earl Grey and Lasagna

"Well, isn't here my favourite boss?"

Hearing the familiar mockery, Rosalie turned around to see her shared secretary with Edmund, Elaine.

Giving her an eye roll, Rosalie exasperatedly replied, "You should not have any favourite. Watch out, Edmund may hear it."

The 52- years- old secretary pouted her excessively-glossed lips and said "He does not care if he is my favourite boss. He only cares about whether YOU think he is a good boss." With that, she winked at Rosalie in an exaggerated manner.

Carefully not to make any reply, Rosalie tried to shrug it off casually. The fact he cared how she thought of him at work was just another proof that their relationship was purely professional.

Rosalie walked to the office opposite to hers, took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," a deep velvet voice sounded.

Rosalie stepped in. Edmund Pevensie sat behind his oaken desk, legs crossed. The top two buttons of his shirt were unfastened with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His tie hung on his neck in the most casual manner. Each time when Rosalie was fixated by his pair of deep, mesmerizing dark eyes, she needed to snap herself out of the trance they set her in.

Elaine, on the other hand, sensed immense coldness and sharpness from his staring. Despise the flippant attitude she dared to displace in front of Rosalie, she transformed herself into a professional secretary when facing Edmund. Smoothly ran through their schedule of today, Elaine fled the room just as a deer with a hunter on its back.

Rosalie let the silence sank after Elaine had left. Working with the harsh boss for three years by now, she had developed the ability to read his emotion, the current under the still surface. Right now, she could almost imagined the gears and gadgets of his brain moving and working in lightning speed to calculate, to evaluate whether or not to deliver his final decision of their argument. Rosalie knew he needed her to play low first. From the light crease of his black browse, from the way his muscles tensed under his shirt, she knew he did not favour how things turned out. Her playing low would certainly put him in better mood.

"I am sorry I stormed off yesterday. It was immature and unconstructive." Rosalie broke the silence and waited to see his next move.

Finally, Edmund dropped the pen he had been twirling on his hand and sighed, "You are right. I will only cut the budget to 28%, but…"

Rosalie continued, "and I will make it clear to the contractor that no more accident is allowed to delay the progress and burden the cost."

At that, Edmund visibly relaxed and his tone softened, "I am sorry for calling you sentimental yesterday."

Rosalie raised her eye browse. "Sentimentality is a virtue." This was her version of saying "I forgive you."

Edmund's lips cured up slightly. The tension between them was now fully dissipated. Edmund sighed and said, "Come on, we have stuff to do. The group was here. Are you ready?"

Rosalie smiled and followed him out of his office.

Somewhere deep within her knew the question was pointless. She was prepared to confront anything just to stay by his side.

There were downsides of being the Assistant Project Manager for Rosalie. For example, some people just read her title too fast to misinterpret her as "assistant TO the Project Manager", especially for those misogynists such as the Calormenes sitting across the table. Rosalie felt a headache started to grow when she was asked to refill their coffe cups. Usually, the mistaken manager would love to give them a taste of her wrath. Today was not the day. Calormen Power and Narnia were in delicate situation. Peter and Edmund needed to maintain a peaceful relationship and to settle for a subtle competition between them, instead of a vicious one. Not to mention the fool was Rabadash, son of the Calormen CEO and the heir of the tycoon's throne. Rosalie took a deep breath and searched for any methods to deny him and clarify her position with all the courtesy she could muster. Much to her surprise, a cold and sharp voice terminated the embarrassing silence

"A cup of cappuccino for me please and only two pumps of syrup." Edmund spoke without raising his eyes form the documents on his hands.

Rosalie could not help but stared at him open mouthed. As if sensing her growing anger, Edmund gave her a reassuring glance and continued, "Miss Westwood here will probably want a cup of Earl Grey, no cream. There is a Starbucks downstairs. Please be quick, gentlemen, our time is precious." Edmund spoke as he dropped the documents and looked around the table. His voice delivered a certain degree of authority and edges which stunned Rabadash and the others to speechless.

After a long pause, one of the Calormenes finally started, "Let's go on…" The meeting speedily recovered.

Though Rosalie could not suppress the small smile dangling on her lips, at the back of her mind, there was a thought kept poking her, didn't Ed believe in her ability to handle the situation?

Not long after their meeting, Elaine announced Peter's arrival when they were discussing their work to be done.

Peter Pevensie was surely in good mood when he stepped into the room with his tousled golden hair and sparkling blue eyes. "Thanks Elaine, you are such an angel. Did you change your lipsticks, you surely look sexier than yesterday," Peter tricked the experienced secretary into blushing and laughing with his flowery words and flippant wink.

Rosalie and Edmund immediately sighed and shared each other's eye rolls. If there was anything Peter was famous for other than being a young, successful entrepreneur, it must be his flirtatious charisma that seemed to have swoon ladies from all age groups…and even men.

"Hey Pete, congrats of being voted the magazines as one of the most wanted man in the city," Rosalie could not help but mocked at her big boss and also to irritate Edmund. She knew crystal clear how Edmund thought of his brother's infamous character.

"Stop it, his head is big enough already. I don't want it to explode in my office; the cleaning bit can be frustrating." Edmund scowled at her.

"Now now now, I do believe it's not the right attitude in speaking with your big brother but because I have a favour to ask, I would kindly let it go," Peter put his hand on his chest in mock hurt.

Edmund stared at him in alert, "What exactly would you like to ask?"

Peter sheepishly scratched his head as he spoke, "you know, tonight is the Enterprises 'Night…"

"No!" Edmund yelled before Peter could even finish. "I would not be the sole representative so you can mess with girls elsewhere tonight!"

"Who said I won't be going? It's just that I want to borrow Rosalie." Peter quickly explained as to calm his enraged brother.

Rosalie, who was previously enjoying the bickering between them and thinking how cocky or annoyed Edmund could become when Peter or Susan were present was now snapped out of her trance.

"Don't draw me in there. What have you in stored for me?" It was Rosalie's turn to be suspicious now.

"Oh nothing. It's just my original partner suddenly doesn't want to go because of some…ar…commitment issues between us and I was thinking if you would like to come instead." Peter dropped the bomb casually.

"Nar, Pete, I am not going to clean up your mess. Besides, I have a date tonight." Rosalie wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, not to mention the sudden drop of temperature in the room.

"A date?" Peter asked in amusement as he could see the stormy expression of his brother getting darker and darker as seconds go by. His face hardened at Rosalie's words.

Rosalie was now flipping the documents on her hands absent-mindedly, unaware what she had triggered. "Yeah, he is a single dad living next door. I helped him to look after his son last weekend when I was free. He asked me to come and have dinner with him tonight as a thank you."

"He has a kid?!" Edmund's voice was as harsh as whiplash.

"Yep, he makes such delicious lasagna. I can smell it each time he cooked." Rosalie was indulged in her good dream of lasagna but she did suddenly feel cold. Should she turn down the air conditioner? And why did Peter doubled over and bit his lips? His shoulder was shaking, was he ill? And Edmund looked cross. Not just cross but furious with his stony face and eyes burned with such intensity that could bore holes in her soul.

Edmund stared at her long enough that even the hair at the back of her neck stood up. Suddenly, he turned to Peter and said, "Perhaps it's a good idea for Rosalie to come tonight, she can work on her business network."

"I don't think my business network needed any effort and…"the spoke brunette had not even finished her argument before Peter chimed in, "Lovely, Rosalie, you don't need to worry about make ups and dresses. I will tell Susan, you just need to drop by at her office. See you tonight, m'lady." He smiled with his white teeth showing, as satisfied as a dog barking its teeth after eating a juicy bone.

"This is outrageous!" the deputy exclaimed. However, Peter retreated faster than Jadis in front of Aslan. So she turned to the prime criminal and released her wrath.

"You did it on purpose!" She pointed at him to reinforce her accusation. The accused dark haired was now in no sense cross. In fact, he leaned back in his chair, legs crossed with a cocky smile gracing his lips.

"Why you have made such conclusion?" he raised his left browse, knowing for certain it would only annoy his colleague to the extreme since she was not capable for such gesture.

Rosalie narrowed her eyes, "you are not happy I persuaded you to cut 28% only of the budget so you pushed me to the ball tonight as punishment!"

"Rosa, for your record, if you want any punishment, I have a much more creative way in mind."

The sentence certainly came out wrong. The two of them were immediately put in an embarrassing silence. Rosalie kept her eyes on her pointy high heel shoes. Now she was definitely sure there was some problem of the air conditioner because the room was God- damned hot all of the sudden!

She finally squeezed up the courage to look at Edmund. His cockiness was gone. With mixed emotion (partly amused and partly disappointed), she noticed he was biting his lips and holding his forehead, a gesture of him regretting what he had said. Rosalie sighed and found her exit, "I think I...ar…better get prepared."

Before she turned to leave, she asked, "Though, Edmund, why did you take care of Rabadash for me today? I could fight my own battle!"

Edmund visibly softened and looked at her with rare tenderness, "maybe I just don't want my right-hand girl to fight for a battle so undeserving."

Rosalie waited in her office for the sweetness to sink in before setting off to find Susan. Sadly, "my right-hand girl" just could not be simplified as "my girl".

 _Reviews Reviews Please!_


	3. Chapter 3 Caviar Crackers and Champagne

_A.N: Hey guys, sorry for the late update. Life is busy at the moment but I will speed up my update as soon as things are settled._

 _Thanks for all the reviews, they mean a lot to me, really! Love you all! Please tell me what you think about this story or this chapter._

 _Susan is going to make her appearance in this chapter and so does Caspian but he will appear in part 2 because the chapter is too long and I need to break it in half._

 _Disclamation: I do not own The Chronicles of Narnia._

Ch.3 Caviar Crackers and Champagne part 1

Rosalie did not often pride herself as fashion expert. Even so, she could still tell the dress Susan chose for her, was way too revealing.

"Um… Su, are you positive that this dress is appropriate? I think I should put on a PG sign for it." Rosalie voiced out her speculation.

Susan Pevensie, stepped out from her private changing room in her office, laughed lightly at Rosalie's words.

"Rosalie, my dear, even if it is too revealing, I won't admit it since Peter personally chose it for you." Susan said absent-mindedly while twirling in front of the mirror, checking for any flaw in her flawless appearance.

"What? I thought he has a better taste than this!" Rosalie screamed out unexpectedly while gestured to her small figure wrapped in a minimum of black cloth.

"Technically, he chose it for his original partner but obviously he must have overlooked the difference of her body and yours." Susan revealed the truth to her sister-like close friend with humour.

"Well, that does explain a lot." Rosalie pulled up the tube dress as it slides down for the sixth time. Peter's partner must be a model. The gown was designed for women who were slim, with board shoulders and long legs. Someone with inverted triangle body figure and 180 cm of height would look nice in it. Rosalie was not made of these physical qualities. Her insufficiency in height caused the beautiful dark lace which supposed to sway elegantly below her kneels to create the see-through effect was now a dull piece of fabric touching the ground and did nothing other than tripping the brunette. Meanwhile, if there was anything Rosalie could deem herself more advance than the former partner, was her prominent curve. (Yes, she had curves) Again, unfortunately, the advantage did not do her any good. For example, the capability of the tube gown was too small to contain her…well…advantages and kept slipping down, revealing an amount of skin that way passed Rosalie's standard.

Seeing Susan's reflection in the mirror, Rosalie was a bit relieved. At least she would not catch much attention when standing beside the female Pevensie. The green dress she was wearing brought out her white complexion. The fabric hugged her body nicely, showing her wonderful curve. The all-back hair style with a few strands of hair well-curled and dangling around her ears added to her sexiness and femininity. She was the very manifestation of elegance and grace. Her eyes sparkled with warmth as she looked at Rosalie. Yet, when her secretary came in to declare Peter's arrival, her straight and stiff posture was so queeny and icy that proudly announced she too, was the co-leader of their corporate empire.

* * *

On their way to the banquet venue, Rosalie learned from Peter that Edmund would come in late to finish a few things first.

"Though I suspected he only wants to avoid all those fan girls of him. " Peter took avenge of his brother for his previous mockery.

"Pete, you can be as big of a womanizer as you want to be but Edmund is …different. He may flirt a little if necessary but when he falls with the right woman, he means commitment and loyalty. Something you lack of by the way." Susan defended her younger brother furiously. However, as she did so, her eyes could not help but wondered to her best friend sitting beside her and sighed inaudibly.

As if knowing her sister's trance of thoughts, Peter also directed his gaze on one of the most capable soldier in his army. He looked at Susan, an unseen sibling conversation immediately took place.

Unaware of her becoming the subject of unknown discussion beside her, Rosalie was mesmerized by the glamor of the Entrepreneurs' Night as their car drove to the front of the red carpet. On the two sides of the pathway were dozens of journalists and photographers. Flashlight together with the sparkling light decoration of the venue blinded her eyes.

Most intriguingly, were the well-dressed men and women who were now proceeding to the grand hall behind the intimidating set of doors. Each one of them, though smiling gracefully in front of the camera, acting so appropriately and walking so smoothly, such fine creatures they were. Yet, Rosalie knew perfectly well how calculating under their fine masks giving her experience in interacting or even dealing with them before. No one was here without a purpose. Thinking of this, Rosalie suddenly felt uncertain to face all these powerful and condescending guests tonight.

"Ready yet, Rosie girl?" Peter asked charmingly as he offered his arms to her.

Rosalie reminded herself, she was the heroine who worked herself up to the top within three years. Though she may not be as powerful as they were, she prided herself as a self-made girl who earned her place with true fighting.

Flashing Peter her most confident smile, she replied, "Never been better."

* * *

It was easier said than done. That was Rosalie first thought. She did not start the night well and she suspected Peter needed to bear the biggest responsibility.

First of all, Peter used to walk in large and strong stride which was difficult for Rosalie to follow with her tailing dress (his choice by the way). In fact, as soon as Peter had taken his first step with her hands in his arm, Rosalie immediately stepped on her gown as she attempted to match his speed. Although she gained her balance instantly, she could not help but stumble a bit.

At that embarrassing moment, the deputy gave thanks to Aslan for Susan to go first. With all the attention concentrated on the said beauty, their little drama did go unnoticed. Rosalie mustered a small smile and the rest of her carpet experience went unscratched.

After they reached the grand hall safely, Peter immediately spotted a few young ladies whose eyes seemed to have glued to him. Accurately aware these new acquaintances may not welcome her presence, she kindly excused her from Peter. The CEO smiled apologetically to her and promised to find her as soon as he finished.

Actually, after the initial awkwardness, it wasn't such a bad time after all. It was a real pleasure to see president Lune, the owner of Archerland, a company which worked closely with Narnia. They exchanged some pleasantries and she chatted a little with his men. Dar, Darrin, Tran and Shar were all pleasant gentlemen to talk with while Cole and Colin weren't here tonight. She danced with them a bit and was surprised to know that Corin would be back soon on the same flight with Lucy next week. The boy had grown quite fond of her when he came to Cair Paravel with his father for a meeting. Together, they were a great team on the subject in annoying Edmund. (Long story)

Rosalie really started to relax after a bit of socializing, except a minor grudge earlier when she encountered The Tisorc, the present dictator of Calormens. The cunning piece of fat seemed to have smelled entertainment when he found the Assistant Project Manager of Narnia was resting beside the cocktail table.

"Why is the cute pet of the Narnian brothers, the infamous Miss Westwood, standing all alone here? My dear, I won't blame you if you find yourself isolated. It's hard when our levels are so… how should I put this gently?" The cruel tycoon paused in mid-sentence to ask his secretary behind who was scraping and bowing.

"May I suggest 'Incompatible', our great and magnified Tisorc, may you earn forever?" provided by his ass-kissing assistant.

"Right, that's the word. Incompatible and unreachable, I believe." The Tisorc finished his attack on our favourite brunette.

At the corner of her eyes, Rosalie saw Peter was preoccupied but had gestured her direction to Susan. Rosalie slightly shook her head to her. She missed the opportunity in giving his son a lesson today and she definitely would not miss the chance with his old man again.

"I most certainly agree with you. Giving the encounter with your son this afternoon, I would say the difference in our intelligence is what contributes to our incompatibility. Though, I would wait patiently for you and your son to cross the river so we can communicate at the same level." Rosalie politely retorted.

At one flashing moment, The Tisorc's face was twisted with rage and embarrassment. Although he soon smothered any trace of emotion, Rosalie insightfully found herself poked at the right place. The great and magnified Tisorc was ashamed of his own and only son.

"I believe your edges are showing is due to your exhaustion on regard of the recent unfortunate event, Miss Westwood. There is news of your rural development project. Wasn't some workers of your contractor got injured when the roof of Narnian newly-constructed house fell?" The Tisorc sneakily spied.

Hiding her shock on The Tisorc's access to their confidential information, Rosalie calmly replied, "they are minor injuries. I hope your degree of concern does not speak for your degree of involvement in this incident."

Her words were partly true. She and Edmund suspected the accident was orchestrated since the house was checked twice before that day. If it was true, Calormen, was with greatest suspicion as it had construction site not far away.

Either way, she did successfully intimidate The Tisorc and showed she was not to be looked down at. Rosalie could now raise her impression of the night from satisfied to enjoyable.

 _You are always welcome to click on the box below and tell me your thoughts_


	4. Ch3 Caviar Crackers and Chmapagne P2

_A.N: Sorry for the late update! Thank you for the follows and favorites. Welcome you all to the story!_

 _I am thinking about perhaps adding a short chapter in Edmund's perspective for the night before keep progressing to the next chapter. So, please tell me if you guys want to know what he's thinking?_

 _Always welcome for reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!_

 _Disclamation: I do not own Narnia._

Ch.3 Caviar Crackers and Champagne Part 2

Though, it should be more enjoyable if she wasn't searching for a certain dark haired silhouette. She had not seen Edmund and it annoyed her for some unknown reason. Rosalie tried to persuade herself he must had too much work to do, and he wasn't being indifference or not caring about her after handing her to Peter.

Wait, why was she looking for excuses? Was Edmund's presence really meant so much to her? "Nar, I am only troubled because Edmund dragged me into this while he is nowhere to be seen. That's all." She reminded firmly while drowning the third (or the fourth?) glass of cocktail tonight.

* * *

Her night was further off from "uneventful" when a dark figure towered over her as she was loading up her plates with caviar crackers. It was not like you could have caviar crackers for snacks every day, right?

"Sorry sir, did I block you…" Rosalie asked as she raised her head to find a pair of warm amber eyes staring straight at her.

"Name is Caspian," his name fell from his lips softly, with an exotic accent that fascinated Rosalie to the extreme.

On a closer look, Caspian was tall and lean, like Edmund but maybe even taller. His hair almost reached to his shoulder. Rosalie was never a big fan for long-haired guy but Caspian strangely changed her impression. It suited him, granting him a certain degree of laziness. His jaw line was prominent and sharp but the gentleness within his eyes gave her an instinct to trust him. It may be the alcohol but she really thought his olive skin was glowing under the soft light.

However, Rosalie soon found out Caspian was nowhere near tranquility. "You are Rosalie Westwood, the assistant of Edmund Pevensie, right?" her handsome acquaintance asked as his eyes lit up.

Sad to admit, but any good impression or admiration Rosalie had before regarding Caspian's appearance were now in past tense.

"It's his deputy you are speaking to." She replied dryly.

"Forgive me but I wish to speak to him and if you can…" Caspian spoke quickly as he took an eager step forward.

"Our customer service hotline is available till 11:00, perhaps you can try it tonight…" Rosalie waved him off exasperatedly. Being rude was not usually her favourite hobby but as time went by; she felt a wave of dizziness drowning her thoughts. She really shouldn't have the last glass of cocktail for sure. It made her difficult to evaluate the whole situation, not to mention playing anyone's knight in shining armour despites how cute her damsel in distress was.

"Wait! I must speak to him and you must help me!" Caspian whisper-yelled and grabbed her wrist urgently in fear of losing his opportunity.

Shaking her head for to clear her muddy thoughts, Rosalie suddenly found her in peculiar situation. "Who are you? I don't recognize as any of the businessmen. Who do you come with?" she voiced out her suspicion.

"I…um… I came in with my professor a few minutes ago; he has a friend here tonight." Caspian ran his shaking hands through his hair and hurried on as he saw Rosalie attempt to speak.

"Listen, I may not be able to explain all these at once but I will tell you the whole story if I can get the chance to speak with the Pevensies…" Caspian tightened his grip on her wrist and asked, "Are you alright?"

His worry was reasonable as the brunette started to sway when she braced herself with another vicious invasion of dizziness.

"Yeah, I am fine." She stretched her eyes to focus on him.

"Caspian, hurry up, we are about to catch much attention and we are not invited technically." An old man Rosalie had not noticed before approached Caspian while pulling his sleeves as he demanded quietly.

"Santa Claus?" with the long white hair and beard that almost covered the little man's body and his outstanding belly size, Santa Claus was the closest association Rosalie could manage in her hazy state.

"Young lady, I am not sure if I should be offended." The mistaken Santa Claus exclaimed.

"That's my professor," Caspian managed to say these few words with great effort as he was struggling not to give in to laughter.

Caspian attempted to drag them back to the more pressing matter and to stop the staring contest between these two. "As you can see we have little time and we cannot get close to Peter or Edmund Pevensie tonight. You must help us."

"Look," Rosalie gently retreated her hand from the desperate man's sweaty grip and went on, "I am not in the position or in the right state to help you." That was true when now everything in her sight was all misty and out of focus.

"But," she silent Caspian and suggested, "you can try Susan Pevensie, the lady in the green dress with blue eyes, she handled media and PR stuff, she is less unreachable and she can get to Peter and Edmund faster than you can imagine. Find a time to knock on her office. Tell her you are referred by Rosalie."

Caspian took a look at Susan and immediately blushed at her sight. "She is too pretty for me to even speak to," he muttered.

"And I am not? How flattering!" Rosalie could not help but mocked and was glad the alcohol had not taken away her sharp tongue.

"That's not what I meant," Caspian sighed as he realized Rosalie was not easy to handle even though she was not far from drunk.

"We should be going. Are you sure we should not find you anyone? You seem to be pretty…"before Caspian could even finish his kind words, Rosalie barged in, "I am absolutely fine."

Before Caspian could reply, his professor nudged at him as a few security guards came in. The two of them immediately vanished just as sudden as their arrival.

* * *

Rosalie struggled to get to restroom. Right now, a cold face wash would do much good for her. As she stumbled into the dim corridor where the restrooms were, her luck once again failed her tonight.

"Well, well, well, did our favourite little pet get lost? Aren't you afraid of the scary big black wolf?" Rabadash insulted as he saw the obvious-drunk employee finding her way in the secluded pathway.

Rosalie tried her best to stand up straight and focus on the smug heir standing in front of her. "Apart from your appearance, I see no common feature between you and the wolf," she mustered her best reply.

Instead of being enraged as Rosalie had predicted, Rabadash took an even more filthy approach. His eyes travelled down from her face to her chest where the fabric slides down as she stumbled and tripped and stepped onto her own gown, exposing a delicious amount of cleverage. Realizing how vulnerable she was at this state, she clutched onto her dress.

"Well, I must say, I have never imagined you have it in you," Rabadash kept his eye level dangerously low.

"I could say the same with that thing in your pant," Rosalie fought back as danger came close.

Rabadash's eyes lit up with rage and lust. "It seems that you are in need for someone to satisfy you. What about me?"

With that, he advanced to Rosalie and grasped her arms. Rosalie tried to turn and run but the alcohol made her slow and weak. Rabadash pulled at her hair, igniting a painful scream from the brunette. In the desperate moment, Rosalie attempted to strike back by kicking his shin. Unfortunately, her movement was so uncoordinated under her drunken state. Before her heel could reach her attacker, she already lost her balance. The savage immediately saw the opportunity and caught her hands, pulling her into his arms.

Rosalie shouted for help but her urgent cry spread through the hallway and dissipated before anyone could hear down the hall. As the damsel was millimeters from falling into his filthy embrace, a strong arm suddenly winded her waist and pulled her back into a deliciously warm and firm chest.

At the same moment, a slender hand appeared behind her and pushed Rabadash harshly. Cursing out, he stumbled and clashed with the picture frame behind.

"Ouchhh!" Rabadash wipe away the blood underneath his nose.

"Don't you dare to approach her again. If I find you anywhere near her sight, I will make sure you regret it until the end of your life and that won't be too far away either." A cold voive spoke as Rosalie felt the arm round her waist tightened in anger.

She looked up to her rescuer and there he was. The man she was searching for the whole night. Edmund stood in all his dark glory. The dark suit he wore with the standing collars depicted all his sharp edges and jaw line. He held Rosalie closely against him as he unleashed his anger on Rabadash. The muscles in his arms clenched as he tightened his fists.

"I want you to pass on everything in our deal to your assistant. If that could not be done, I shall be happy to see how you explain to your father that you screwed up a contract with us and being sued for sexual harassment simultaneously." Edmund spited out each words through his clenched teeth.

Right after Rabadash ran away with his tail on fire, Edmund diverted his full attention on Rosalie.

"Darn it! Rosa, who put you in this dress?" Edmund cursed under his breath as his eyes fell on her.

"Pete?" Rosalie asked tentatively as exhaustion and alcohol stole her last bit of strength and somber.

Edmund was muttering something like "too exposed" and "bad taste" as he took off his suit jacket and wrapped it round her.

* * *

What Rosalie could recall after it t was in a haze. She could smell food and hear the cacophony of kitchen utensils when they passed by the kitchen to reach the back door. She could feel the cold leather when she was settled in the car. She remembered the warm and comfortable embrace she kept snuggling in, and the firm hold on her body that spoke of security and shelter.

After her back hit the soft mattress, she felt it. A hot, wet softness upon her lips, tasting her and feeling her with such an amount of tenderness and passion. Before it ended, all she could recognize was a faint taste of champagne that dominated all her sensory before she felt into the embrace of the oblivion.


End file.
